Why does my 3D mark scores go down with each new driver update?

[BoomAM]

Hi,
Ive noticed that with each major update to either DX or Catalyst, my 3d mark score goes down.
With Cat 3.0a + DX8.1 i got 10641 3d marks.
With Cat 3.0a + DX9 i got 10260 3d marks
With Cat 3.1 + DX9 i got 10201 3d marks.
Ive just installed Cat 3.2, and now i get 10004 3d marks.
Whats going on here? I though update are ment to fix problems. Not slow the card down.

 

[BoomAM]

Forgot. Here you go guys/gals

System Specs
AMD AthlonXP 1800
Abit KT7A-RAID
768mb PC133 Memory
Sapphire Atlantis 9700PRO w/Cat 2.3
WindowsXP Home Edition w/SP1 & DX9

HardOCP UT2003 Benchmark v2
DM-Antalus
Direct3D
Max Detail
Run at 1024x768 & 1280x1024

Average FPS
dm-antalus

1024x768
111.927711 FPS

1280x1024
103.654427 FPS

 

[microAmp]

Did you uninstall the drivers completely? Step by step....

 

[BoomAM]

I do all of that, except the registary thing.
Do my UT2003 score look ok?
I`ll try the reg thing as well now.

 

[d00m]

Hmmm, strange, up until now I've only been hearing people praising the Cat 3.2 drivers.

 

[BoomAM]

Its not just Cat3.2
The score went down with Cat 3.1, via4.45, via 4.46, DX9.

I always run 3D mark at these settings.
default 3d mark settings
ATI drivers set to max texture quality/mip map quality, but no FSAA/AF.
AGP4x on, Fast writes off (for stability).

Now, ive done everything that the rage3d thread say to do.
And my score went from 10004 to 10080. So not much then.
Also, it says that there should be 3-4 ATI files in my System32 directory, there was about 12, i deleted them all though.
In regcleaner, there was 4 ATI enteries, deleted 3 of them, the 4th was hydra vision, and i didnt want to lose my settings.

Ive had an idea. Ive heard that the last couple of Via drivers decrease performance for KT133/A chipsets. Which Via drivers are the best for KT133/A ?

How are my UT2003 scores? The game baced scores tend to be more reliable.

How do i benchmark in the newer versions of Q3?
In the v1.17, typed "timedemo 1, demo demo001" and it then did a benchmark. It doesnt do it with the newer version though. Not sure of the version number, its patched version that team arena does when you install that. How do i benchmark in that as well?

Thanks guys/gals

 

[BoomAM]

Since doing what the rage3d thread said to do, C&C Generals hasnt been running right.
For some reason, it`ll run fine for a few minutes, then go to 4fps for a few seconds, then back to normal, then jerky again, and so on.
Whats going on here then?

 

[BoomAM]

Ive found a fix to the Generals problem.
If you disable any antivirus that is running when you install the video drivers, then the problem goes away. It has thus far on mine, but ive only played one skirmish level.
I remember that i had a similar problem a while ago, when i was installing the latest detonator drivers for my GF3 Ti200, when antivirus was on during driver installs, RalliSport Challenge messes up, when it wasnt, RalliSport Challenge was fine.

Any feed back on my UT2003 scores? Are they OK for my system?

 

[sash1]

3d Mark goes down due to issues between DX8 and DX9. 3dMark2k1 is a DX8.1 utility.

The recent ATi drivers (cat 3.1 and 3.2) optimise the cards and it's features for DX9. As such, 3DMark2k1 will result in lower scores. really doesn't mean much, as overall performance in other games go up. As well, the newer drivers have increased performance at higher resolutions.

 

[BoomAM]

Thanks.
Didnt know that.
I`ll have to remember that.

 

[GtPrOjEcTX]

its a conspiracy to make you think your card is getting worse and you need to upgrade!!!

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: GtPrOjEcTX
its a conspiracy to make you think your card is getting worse and you need to upgrade!!!

No no no, its just you probably downloaded the release of the drivers that the nVidia spy nicked and tinkered with to try and make it seem like you needed an nVidia card, it was the only way they could make their cards seem worth buying.

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: AunixM3
3d Mark goes down due to issues between DX8 and DX9. 3dMark2k1 is a DX8.1 utility.

The recent ATi drivers (cat 3.1 and 3.2) optimise the cards and it's features for DX9. As such, 3DMark2k1 will result in lower scores. really doesn't mean much, as overall performance in other games go up. As well, the newer drivers have increased performance at higher resolutions.

I agree, my score went down as well...new reformat with dx 8.1 againusing same cat 3.1s and my score jumped back to where it used to be...